Mia Mélange is making fabric face masks in an answer to the call by the President. We are grateful for the opportunity to offer meaningful employment to members of our wonderful team during this time. The health and safety of our team and their families remain a top priority. A few of the women on our team have sewing machines at home, which means they can work with minimum exposure to others. 

 

Proudly made in South Africa 🇿🇦

The inner layers of our masks are soft, white, 100% cotton fabric. The rationale for using a white fabric is that a mask should be washed after every single use. By having a white fabric showing dirt, you will be reminded to wash your mask! Government requires that masks cover the face from ABOVE the nose to BELOW the chin and almost up to the ears. Please make sure your mask fits correctly.

South Africa's Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), as well as the Western Cape Department of Health developed guidelines for the appropriate and safe usage of fabric / cloth face masks, for outside of the Health sector. The departments have also called on residents NOT to use N95 Respirators and Medical masks. There is a global shortage of these masks and they should be reserved for frontline healthcare workers. The departments, as well as the President, have called on the textile industry to make masks, in line with their recommendations. Please see the DTIC's updated Recommended Guidelines here. Please read more from the Western Cape Department of Health here.

Please note that our fabric face masks are not medical masks and are not safe for usage in the Health sector. A mask must be used in conjunction with good hygiene practices. Please follow the recommendations from the Western Cape Department of Health for good hygiene, protection offered by masks, when to use the masks, how to use a mask and how to maintain it (source: Western Cape Department of Health):

The Golden Rules of Good Hygiene:

• Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water 
• Do not touch your face with unwashed hands 
• Cough or sneeze into a tissue or the corner of your arm, and safely throw away the tissue 
• Keep a distance of 1,5m (or 2m) from others 
• If you are ill, stay at home, or arrange for clinical assessment

Protection Offered By Fabric Face Masks (When Appropriately Used & Cleaned):

• The mask will not necessarily protect the wearer, but may help to reduce viral transmission by containing respiratory droplets generated when the wearer speaks, sneezes and coughs
• All masks provide a physical barrier when covering the wearer’s nose and mouth and may reduce inhaling a large number of droplets. While cloth masks are considered less effective than medical / surgical face masks, these will provide a physical barrier to reduce expulsion and inhalation if the cloth mask is made of a heavy, tight weave.
• Cloth masks act as a physical barrier and may help to stop people touching their face, mucous membranes and mouth
• Cloth masks may reduce virus exposure in overcrowded areas such as taxis, shops or government buildings  
• Cloth masks will create greater awareness around COVID-19

When to Use Fabric Face Mask:

Cloth masks can be used by both the community and non-healthcare workers and where there is no physical contact. This includes: 

• Travel to and from work in public transport 
• When stepping outside the house to go shopping or seeking healthcare 
• In self isolation when contact with others is necessary (remember distancing) 
• When stopping and talking to members of the public (for example, traffic police) 
• When conducting interviews during house to house visits (for example, Community workers) 
• When cleaning the streets/ disposing of domestic rubbish

How to properly use a cloth mask: 

The usage of any type of mask should be accompanied by strictly adhering to safe use guidelines. It is very important that residents use a cloth mask properly. If they do not, it might result in them putting themselves at risk of spreading Covid-19. The simple guidelines to use are: 

• Only use a mask that has been cleaned & ironed 
• Place the mask with the correct side facing your nose and mouth and covering both well 
• Tie the strings behind your head, or if you are using elastic bands, make sure these are tight 
• Make sure it fits well. Move it around to get the best fit. Never touch the cloth part. 
• Once you have put on the mask, DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE again until you take it off 
• When you take it off, undo the ties or remove over your head, and carefully fold the mask inside out, hold it by the strings/elastic and place the mask in a container preserved for washing the cloth mask
• Wash hands thoroughly and dry before doing anything else 
• Do not share cloth masks between members of the family
• Make sure there are at least two cloth masks per person in the household, including children

Maintaining the mask: 

You must have at least two cloth masks per person so you will be able to wash one and have a clean one ready for use. 

• Wash the mask daily in soap and hot water
• Rinse thoroughly and dry 
• IRON THE MASK - this is the best means of disinfection! (Do not hot-iron the non-woven filter)
• If you do not have an iron, place the mask with the outside facing down on a metal sheet and place it in the sun; leave it there for a couple of hours - the heat should disinfect it
• DO NOT SOAK THE MASK IN CHEMICALS AS THESE GET ABSORBED AND MAY BE INHALED CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE RESPIRATORY TRACT 

#Masks4all

 

To read more about the international movement for population-wide use of homemade masks as critical protective equipment against COVID-19, click here.

To read more about the South African movement, read here.

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• No refunds or returns on masks. 
• Please enquire about wholesale or bulk pricing.
• Please wash and iron your mask before wearing it (do not hot-iron non-woven filter).
• Please note that our masks are not medical or surgical grade and they will not prevent you from contracting viruses such as coronavirus.
• For orders placed from outside of South Africa, we will only be able to ship after the ban on the export of face masks has been lifted.

Wholesale Face Masks Application